Less Than Three
by tiny.coco.chan
Summary: Hyuuga Hinata can solve any math problem thrown at her. When Uchiha Sasuke is added to the equation, will the solution be undefined... or less than three? *SasuHina OneShot*


**As stated in my earlier upload, _To Sin Again_: I'm baaaaack!**

**If you read any of my multi-chapter stories, I'd like you to know that I'll probably be writing OneShots for a while to get back into the flow of writing.**

**Anyway, I added a mathematical element to this story. (Um... yeah... I'm not trying to make up for my terrible grade...) **

**If you're like me and suck at math, it's okay; this story doesn't actually have you solve any problems.**

***Please Enjoy* while I await my execution— I mean study for my math test— on Tuesday!**

* * *

When Uchiha Sasuke opened his history textbook, he found a torn piece of notebook paper written in sparkly gel pen that said: _284-4857 Call me, babe! -Ino_

When Uchiha Sasuke opened his locker, he found cherry-scented stationary taped on the door that said: _967-1659 xoxo Sakura xoxo_

When Uchiha Sasuke stuck his hand in his back pocket he found a post-it note that said: _475-3758 ;) Temari_

"Your pants?" his so-called best friend, Uzumaki Naruto cackled in the lunch line. "You found another number _in your pants_?"

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed.

The Uchiha, who always seemed to be in a constant bad mood, literally personified anger as he snatched a lunch tray. Just because he was the sexiest guy on earth—unlike Naruto—didn't mean that girls had to crawl all over him. They didn't have to blindly throw themselves in his way, impeding him from getting to class. They didn't have to set up a website that gave updates on his every move. And they most certainly did _not_ have to leave surprises in his pants. Geez, girls could be so perverted!

"I wonder how she managed to stick a post-it note in there," Naruto mused aloud with a grin, "unless you let her."

Sasuke ignored him. Instead, he grabbed a bottle of water and set it on his tray. The best strategy in dealing with Naruto meant letting him talk about whatever he wanted. Eventually he got bored with the topic and then switched the subject entirely.

As Naruto rattled on about Asuma-sensei's supposedly hidden stash of cigarettes, Sasuke looked ahead in the line. There were about twenty people in front of him. The guy in the front fumbled his wallet, and coins spilled onto the cheap, tile floor.

Could this lunch line move any slower?

The guy, who definitely leaned on the heavier side, scrambled to pick up his money. Sasuke recalled that his name was Akimichi Chouji. Piles of food brimmed over the edge of his lunch tray. Disgusting. Only someone like Chouji could be able to digest that amount school food.

Sasuke continued to tune Naruto out as he casually noticed that a girl decided to help the guy and his forsaken wallet. She wore a baggy sweatshirt and had a curtain of long, dark hair that obscured her face. She picked up the rest of his coins and gave it to him.

"Thanks, Hinata!" Chouji smiled.

Hinata. Where had he heard that name before? Sasuke didn't know why, but that name had a significant meaning to it. He studied the girl as she rose from the ground. She kept her eyes lowered but offered Chouji a smile in return.

"You're welcome," she squeaked.

Sasuke turned back to his tray, no longer interested. He scanned the entrée choices and grabbed a cheeseburger wrapped in tin foil. It was probably undercooked and loaded with chopped onions, but that was infinitely better than the macaroni. Who knows what died in _that_? As expected, Naruto selected the clam chowder. He claimed that if you added enough ketchup to it, then it sort-of tasted like ramen. Ew.

After they paid for their "food," Sasuke and Naruto sat down at their usual table. Inuzuka Kiba had already arrived and frantically copied Shikamaru's answers onto his homework, which was probably due the next period. Nara Shikamaru, however, didn't care; he wasn't even awake at the moment.

"I can't believe tomorrow's Friday," Naruto announced. "That means party at Sasuke's house!"

"No," the Uchiha immediately hissed.

"What, why not?" Naruto whined as he grabbed a fistful of ketchup packets and emptied them into his clam chowder.

Why not? Well, Sasuke could list a million reasons why not, and that statement itself wasn't a hyperbole. Naruto always volunteered Sasuke's house to be the site of a party. Sasuke hated the loud, obnoxious music. He hated being attacked by drunken fangirls from behind. He hated the killer hangovers the next day. Most of all, he hated Naruto for holding the party in the first place, but that was a given.

"Because you're an idiot," the Uchiha stated.

"He's right. Even I did better than you on the math test," Kiba snickered, looking up from the homework he just finished copying.

"That's because my fucking calculator broke," Naruto shouted. "And my 17% is practically the same as your 23%!"

Sometimes Sasuke honestly didn't know why he hung out with these idiots. And Shikamaru. Well, Shikamaru could be an idiot too. The genius with an IQ over 200 couldn't sing if his life depended on it. Shikamaru and karaoke did not mix. Ever. They all learned that the hard way.

Perhaps, Sasuke theorized, everybody was an idiot in their own way; everybody had a weakness. He admitted that his newfound observation had a single contradiction. As crazy as it sounded, Sasuke could not think of a weakness for himself. He possessed a hot body, top-notch grades, athletic skills, musical abilities, and more fangirls than the number of illegal ingredients in the school's chili. This made Sasuke the only non-idiot in the world; he was an endangered species.

"Shut up, I'm trying to sleep," Shikamaru groaned at Naruto and Kiba.

"Wet dreams," Kiba snickered.

If _that_ didn't prove that Sasuke was surrounded by idiots, nothing could. The Uchiha unwrapped his so-called cheeseburger. Even though the bun was soggy, the patty itself possessed the texture of sandpaper. Disgusted, he snatched some of Naruto's ketchup packets to mask the taste. Sasuke understood that eating his "newly-improved" burger equaled suicide, but he was a teenage guy. As an unwritten rule, teenage guys were always hungry, whether it was for food, sex, or both.

"You used up all of my ketchup, you bastard," Naruto whined. "Now you owe me."

"I don't owe you anything. Ketchup packets are free," Sasuke stated.

"If you two were arguing over hot girls, I'd understand. But ketchup? That's just pathetic," Kiba commented.

"Nobody asked you," Naruto and Sasuke spat in unison.

Of course, their insignificant quarrel grew with each insult, swear, and shove. Normally, he wouldn't have let Naruto get to him like that, but Sasuke found himself slowly losing his cool. He clenched his teeth at Naruto's accusations and Kiba's perverted jokes. Even Shikamaru's snores set him on the edge. Sasuke blamed his lack of control on his emotions on the cafeteria food. Knowing the cafeteria ladies, they probably laced his sandpaper cheeseburger with poison.

By the end of lunch, Naruto succeeded in getting his payment back for the ketchup. Somehow, Sasuke ended up agreeing to help Naruto with his job after-school. He couldn't fathom how _Uzumaki Naruto_, of all people, proved he wasn't as idiotic as estimated.

Absurd! Uchihas were never wrong.

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata was wrong. The tangent of a right angle was undefined, not -2. Where the hell did she get the answer -2? She shook her head while erasing her incorrect math problem. She hated trig functions; she hated quadrantal angles; she hated math. Hinata believed that numbers were useless and had no real value. Sure, they came in handy when dealing with finances, but that was their only _function _(math joke, get it?). She planned to never use math in any other aspects of her future.

Her i_rrational_ (another poor math joke) issue with numbers was actually her only form of rebellion against her father, Hyuuga Hiashi. Hiashi worked as the CFO of the First Byakugan Bank with its oh-so-original slogan, "We make our costumers First!" In doing so, he handled finances, which ultimately stemmed from those wretched numbers.

Hyuuga Hiashi could never win the Best Father in the World Award. He could hardly even be called a father. He always traveled abroad for his work, abandoning his family in their second mansion in Konoha. Ever since their mother died nine years ago, Hinata and her younger sister Hanabi had been utterly neglected.

Today, however, was actually one of the days when Hiashi was home. So Hinata fled to the garden in their backyard in order to concentrate on her despised math homework. If only she could recall the formula for the law of cosines…

"Bastard, that hurt!" a familiar voice from the distance shouted. "What the hell was that for?"

Hinata could have sworn she heard Uzumaki Naruto. However, she deemed this impossible because he lived in the poorer part of Konoha.

As she reached for her graphing calculator, she heard another familiar voice answer, "That was for being an idiot."

Oh no, it was _him_. Being the son of the CEO of the rival First Sharingan Bank, Uchiha Sasuke lived in the wealthier part of town like Hinata. However, how could Naruto and he be within earshot? She stood up and peered over the bushes that surrounded the garden. Sure enough, the two best friends were in her backyard… raking leaves.

In truth, Sasuke was the only one raking. Naruto stood next to him, clutching his stomach, as if he had bad gas. Or as if somebody had bashed him there with a rake.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Sasuke hissed. "This is your job, after all."

Oh, so that's why they were here. Hinata remembered that her father had fired their personal lawn workers the day before because he caught them stealing from inside the house. Since it was the middle of autumn, a thick coat of leaves blanketed the Hyuuga lawn. As a quick fix, Hiashi probably hired Naruto, who probably brought along Sasuke, to rake them.

"Hey, you owed me for the ketchup!" Naruto argued.

"Tch, I don't owe you anything," Sasuke stated.

This provoked Naruto, who tackled Sasuke to the ground. Hinata's eyes widened as she watched them roll into a pile of leaves, undoing all of their work. The two friends punched and kicked each other. They seemed to be an equal match until Sasuke had Naruto pinned down. At that instant, Naruto's cell phone rang, and he answered it.

After the call, he sheepishly apologized to Sasuke, "Sorry, but I… uh… gotta go."

"Sakura?" Sasuke asked in disgust.

"Yeah, she wants me to carry her bags while she shops for a dress for the Fall Fling Dance," he mumbled.

Sasuke rewarded Naruto with a condescending smirk, "I thought Kiba was a dog, but you're-"

"I'm _not_ Sakura's bitch!" he protested. "It's just… she said she'd take me to the dance if I carry her shopping bags. That practically makes me her boyfriend! I swear I'll make it up to you if you let me leave."

Hinata held her breath, silently rooting for Naruto. She had crushed on him all through middle school until the end of her freshman year. By then, she relinquished her love for him when she figured that her feelings would never be reciprocated. Even though she no longer harbored feelings for him, she could still cheer him on from the sidelines, couldn't she? After all, she could tell that he really did like Sakura. Hinata looked at Sasuke, whose face didn't seem to betray any emotion. She sent telepathic messages to him, urging him to let Naruto go to Sakura.

"You're expecting me to rake all of these leaves by myself?" Sasuke hissed.

…or rather, tele_pathetic_ messages.

However, he added, "Have fun getting used by a girl, idiot. See you tomorrow."

Hinata's and Naruto's faces simultaneously brightened. Naruto playfully punched Sasuke in the arm in thanks, which in turn got him another jab in the stomach with a rake. As Naruto hobbled away, she couldn't help but think that maybe Sasuke wasn't so bad after all.

"I know you're there," Sasuke said coldly.

How did he know she was spying on them even though he never once looked her way? Hinata felt her face heat up as she scrambled from behind the bushes. She watched him begin raking the leaves and wondered if he really did have a heart.

"Sorry," she managed to squeak.

"I know you from somewhere," he stated, although a question was implied.

"Yeah," she said quietly, "I'm your ex-girlfriend."

Sasuke stopped raking and looked her in the eye. Right then, Hinata could tell what he was thinking: How could this shy nobody have gone out with _the _Uchiha Sasuke? Of course, it sounded so unrealistic that fun pop quizzes in math were more feasible.

"I don't remember ever having a girlfriend," he told her.

Of course, this was to be expected. She was quiet, soft-spoken, and utterly forgettable.

"It was in kindergarten," she elaborated. "You picked me so the other girls would stop chasing you during recess."

Sasuke nodded once, as if this had explained everything. He started raking the leaves again, silently dismissing her. However, Hinata had noticed something, and she couldn't get it out of her mind. She knew she would regret doing it, but at least her mind would be at peace. The girl quietly approached him and raised her hand. Reflexively, he caught her wrist in a death grip. Their eyes locked again.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, his eyes narrowed.

"You… have a leaf in your hair," she squeaked.

Sasuke released her wrist and plucked the leaf out of his hair. He crushed it in his hand. The autumn breeze carried the fragments away. Had he always been this scary? Hinata couldn't remember. She did remember, however, that even in kindergarten he could be colder than ice. He always made her sit next to him at the craft table but never attempted at conversation. Her sole purpose was to deflect any and all fangirls. This caused her to be the most unpopular girl for the rest of elementary school.

To Sasuke, 1 + 1 did not equal 2. Their brief relationship followed the equation 1 + 1 = 1 dominating over the other 1. Now that they were a decade older, this rule still applied.

Hinata hated equations, but she couldn't help but see life as a giant equation. Her mind was forever contradictory, unlike math. There were set rules and theorems in mathematics that she could count on to be the same no matter what. Perhaps that was why she was drawn to it.

…Except she couldn't like math and numbers. It reminded her of her father who was never home… except for that particular week. Perhaps, Hinata mused, nothing was ever 100% black or 100% white. People, places, and things could be multiple shades of gray, like 26.3% black and 73.7% white. Maybe that was why Sasuke could act so cold one second, and he could warm up another.

Hinata smiled at him as she felt everything around her turn 100% black.

* * *

Sasuke stared at the limp form on the ground. Right when he started raking again, Hinata just had to go and faint on him. Were ex-girlfriends always this difficult?

He didn't remember anything along the lines of ever going out with anybody. However, using a quiet girl like Hinata to steer other girls away sounded quite clever. Therefore, according to his calculations, he must have done it. Dang, Uchiha Sasuke was one smart kid in kindergarten. She was the perfect human shield… except for when she was unconscious. Sasuke silently cursed as he lifted her up. Were ex-girlfriends always this light?

Sasuke knew that one shouldn't judge a book by its cover—he was no idiot, after all—but he expected this girl to be on the heavier side. She always wore those oversized sweatshirts and baggy pants. Yet, he was surprised to find that she had quite a shapely but petite body in his arms. What was more surprising was that he had the urge to rip off her sweatshirt in order to confirm this. Realizing what he just thought, Sasuke silently cursed again. He was _not_ interested in this girl at all.

He proceeded to carry her all the way to the front door and rang the doorbell. After waiting for what seemed like forever, nobody answered. Sasuke swore audibly this time. Where the hell was Hyuuga Hiashi? He could have sworn the man was inside of there; he hired Naruto to rake his enormous backyard the day before, after all. Frustrated, he jiggled the doorknob, which promptly opened the front door.

Before he stepped inside, Sasuke calmly examined the situation. Only an impulsive idiot like Naruto would just burst into somebody's house. Sasuke, on the other hand, was not impulsive nor an idiot. In his hands, however, was an unconscious Hinata. He certainly couldn't leave her on the ground. He was an Uchiha, and he was raised with the standard chivalrous ideals (although he hardly practiced them on fangirls). He couldn't notify her father either, since Hiashi went AWOL. The middle and elementary schools ran 30 minutes later than the high school, so any younger siblings weren't home. He knew his only choice was to just bring her inside the house and lay her down on a bed or a couch.

Sasuke entered the house, closing the door behind him. Inside, the mansion felt businesslike and impersonal, the same way his own felt. The color white dominated the whole place: white walls, white floor, white decorations. He entered the next room, which had a convenient white couch. Sasuke walked over to the couch when he saw Hinata open her eyes.

When she realized that she was being carried in his arms, she blushed to the color of a ripe tomato. Sasuke remembered the last thing he ate was that sandpaper cheeseburger. That was hours ago and tomatoes seemed so delicious at the moment.

_Gurgle. Gurgle._ Did his stomach just do that?

"You're hungry," Hinata said softly.

He didn't reply. Instead he dropped Hinata on the white couch. A startled look flashed across her face, but then she looked him in the eye. He noticed how pale her eyes were, the opposite of his own.

"Do you… want something to eat?" she asked nervously.

She really was a pale, timid creature. Sasuke could compare her to a mouse, but a mere rodent didn't suit her. She was more like onigiri… Ugh, Sasuke's hunger started to affect his brain. Comparing Hyuuga Hinata to a rice ball meant that he needed food pronto. Of course, he didn't have to let Hinata know that.

"No," he answered, turning around and headed out of the room.

"Thank you," she called out after him, "for bringing me inside."

Without a reply, he exited the white mansion. Sasuke found his rake in the backyard and once again forced the leaves back into a damn pile. Meanwhile, a delicious aroma floated through the air. Sasuke's sense of smell wasn't as acute as Kiba's—because Kiba was practically a dog—but even he could recognize the mouth-watering scent of baking chocolate chip cookies drifting from an open window from inside the mansion.

It was a known fact amongst the Uchiha Sasuke Fan Club that he despised sweets. Yes, that was true, but there was actually one exception to that rule. Mikoto Uchiha, his mother, used to make him chocolate chip cookies whenever he aced a test. He'd always come home running, hand clutched to an A+ paper. Mikoto would smile, give him a hug, and break out the cookie dough.

However, that all ended when she decided to kill herself.

"Goodbye, Sasuke," she had smiled to him the night before her death. "Remember that I'll always love you."

Dumbfounded, Sasuke had asked, "Goodbye? Don't you mean good_night_?"

Due to the psychological trauma, his brother Itachi suddenly became rebellious and was shipped off to some boarding school in another country. Their father Fugaku grew harsher and stricter with age. He named Sasuke the heir of his company, but set impossible expectations for him.

"Get elected student body president. Get straight A's in honors and AP courses. Become captain of every possible sports team that your school offers. Be fluent in numerous different languages including English, French, German, Latin, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, and Hebrew. Surpass Itachi," Fugaku constantly demanded.

Of course, there was also the unspoken, "Don't disappoint me."

Anyway, chocolate chip cookies reminded Sasuke of simpler, happier times. Hinata probably took the initiative to relieve his starvation by baking some, even though he told her not to. He picked up speed as he raked. That delicious aroma coming from the house made his stomach growl even more. Now he finally understood how ex-girlfriends could be so cruel.

It took him a surprisingly short time to finish the entire backyard. Since he had already been paid in advance, Sasuke ditched his rake by the back door and headed for his home.

Along the way, he wondered how Hyuuga Hinata could make him feel like such an idiot.

She was too kind, too nice. Even though she seemed to have a flighty father and a fainting problem, she was more concerned about the state of Sasuke's hunger. She put his needs above her own by baking him cookies without expecting anything in return. She also did the same thing when she helped Akimichi Chouji in the lunch line earlier that day. Sasuke couldn't comprehend how one could be so selfless. It was as if Hinata knew something that he didn't, which in fact made him feel slightly idiotic.

What was he missing in life? He had everything; he was everything. If Sasuke was a pizza, he'd be the works. Yet, it felt like he might have been incomplete after all. Perhaps his crust was burnt or…

…what the hell was he still thinking about food?!?

"Fuck my life," he muttered as he swung the door open to his house.

Sasuke headed straight for the kitchen. Instead of the steady hum of the fridge, he heard music. Apparently, his father left the radio on, which sat next to the toaster.

"_All you need is love. All you need is love. All you need is love, love, love is all you need!_" the Beatles were singing.

Sasuke fought the urge to roll his eyes. Love? Was that what he was missing? So he was expected to jump on a rainbow unicorn and throw sparkly valentines at people? Love was a lie. If his mother loved him, then she wouldn't have committed suicide. If his father loved him, then he wouldn't pressure him to be perfect. If Itachi loved him… it wouldn't matter. Sasuke hated his older brother, especially now that he abandoned him for a life of partying at a boarding school.

"Fuck Itachi," he hissed.

He scoured through the fridge, frowning at the sparse selection. Their cook was probably shopping for groceries right now, so Sasuke had to find something edible to eat by himself. He craved those mouth-watering cookies that Hinata had been baking. Instead, he pulled out a tomato and bit into it.

It wasn't a chocolate chip cookie.

* * *

Ding!

"They're ready," Hinata announced to nobody in particular.

She scurried over to the oven and pulled out the tray. 2^2 + 2^2 + 4^2 (or 24 for those who hated math like Hinata) freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies emerged. She inhaled the delicious aroma. Hopefully, Sasuke would be too hungry to care that she had defied his wishes by getting him something to eat. Surely even he wouldn't be able to resist the lure of two dozen cookies.

Hinata brought the tray outside, humming "Adagio Cantabile" by Beethoven. The crisp autumn air intertwined with the scent of home-made cookies. As Hinata walked to the backyard, she couldn't help but admire the warm colors of autumn. She stopped walking when she realized that the yard was barren. There were no leaves and no Sasuke. He must have already finished raking.

To make sure, she called out, "Sasuke?"

When no answer came, Hinata frowned. What was she going to do with two dozen cookies?

The next morning, Hinata's alarm blared out old Japanese love songs. She groggily rolled out of bed and slipped into her favorite over-sized sweatshirt. However, she discovered there was a huge, gaping hole in the front. It extended diagonally from her right shoulder to her left elbow.

She cried, "What? How could this-"

"I did it," the firm voice of a preteen answered.

Hinata turned around to see her younger sister Hyuuga Hanabi leaning on the doorway. Unlike her older sister, Hanabi personified vanity. Her long, brown hair framed her heavily made up face—complete with pink lip gloss, black eye liner, clump-free mascara, and golden shadow. She wore a zebra print halter top, skinny jeans, and an assortment of tribal bangles on her arms. When asked to comment about her outfit, she'd probably say she's "fiercer than any animal." Because she was Hanabi: the confident one, the pretty one, the favorite one.

"Hanabi, why did you ruin my favorite sweatshirt?" Hinata asked, hurt.

"Daddy told me he hired Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke to rake our leaves," Hanabi answered, which wasn't much of an answer.

Hinata blinked, "Yes, Father did hire them, but what does-"

"Look," Hanabi snapped, "Uchiha Sasuke is the _it_ guy, and he raked _our_ leaves. I saw the cookies in the kitchen. Knowing you, you probably baked them for him. So when you give those cookies to him today at school, we have to make sure you look worthy for him."

"Worthy?" Hinata echoed, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, now let's get you in some real clothes," Hanabi instructed, grabbing her sister's wrist.

After Hinata had suffered enough, Hanabi nodded her head and allowed Hinata to go to school. She grabbed her backpack, the wrapped plate of cookies, and her car keys. While she drove, Hinata nervously sneaked a glance at herself in the rearview mirror. Staring right back at her were two smoky eyes. She wore a nautical top that showed an uncomfortable amount of cleavage and super skinny jeans. Yes, not just skinny jeans, but _super_ skinny jeans. Hanabi had even thrown on a funky belt with pictures of cartoon whales on it. Aye, aye, sailor Hinata!

"I feel like shark bait for Sasuke," she groaned.

She groaned a second time when she realized that it was probably Hanabi's inspiration for the outfit. She put on her backpack, clutched the wrapped plate of cookies tightly to her chest, and stared at the ground as she exited her car. She could feel the stare of everyone as they began whispering in the parking lot.

"Who's that?"

"What a slut."

"Whoa, hot new girl at two o' clock!"

"Dude, I call dibs on her."

"Do you think she stuffs her bra?"

"Two words: Se. Xy."

Her cheeks heated up as she shuffled into the school. The whispering exponentially worsened to the nth power, where n equaled some huge, irrational number. With the whole school's eyes on her, she traveled to her locker to the water fountain to Uchiha Sasuke. He stood next to Naruto, Kiba, and Shikamaru as they all leaned against a few lockers. When they spotted Hinata, Shikamaru nodded, Naruto smiled, Kiba winked, and… Sasuke didn't give her a second glance.

"Sasuke, these are for you," she squeaked, "as a thank you."

With her face heated, she held out the wrapped plate of cookies to him. He looked at the gift and then to her.

"I don't like sweets," he stated.

"Oh," she mumbled, her face reddening even more.

She hadn't known that he didn't like sweets. Though, she could see why. Sasuke, cold and brooding, did not seem like the type of person to indulge himself with sugary foods. She could never imagine him ever eating an ice cream, and certainly not with extra sprinkles. How could she have been stupid enough to bake 24 chocolate chip cookies for him? The sine of 24 in radians was approximately -.905578362! Okay, that didn't actually represent anything evil, but irrational numbers made Hinata want to itch.

"I like sweets!" Naruto yelled as he eagerly grabbed the plate from her hands.

"Me too," Kiba grinned as he wrapped an arm around Hinata's waist.

Sasuke immediately punched Kiba in the gut.

"Paws off of her," Sasuke hissed as Kiba hunched over in pain.

Sasuke then proceeded to grab Hinata's wrist and drag her away from his friends. He had looked annoyed when he was around them. In fact, he always frowned, as if that was the default setting for his face. As she followed Sasuke, she wondered if there was anything he actually did like. Surely, there had to be room for something in his heart. She mused at all of the potential possibilities. Maybe he was a fan of figure skating? Or he liked country music? Or perhaps he enjoyed the little things in life, like finding coins on the ground?

She looked at his face and saw no trace of happiness. She stared harder, trying to figure him out, as if he was a word problem that involved two trains that were traveling away from each other at a speed of 30 mph and 40 mph respectively.

"Why do you do it?" he demanded, breaking her from her mathematical trance.

"Do what?" she asked, shaking.

"Why do you help others?" he narrowed his eyes.

Hinata was shocked. Did Sasuke actually want to learn a moral lesson from her? Several years have passed since kindergarten when they learned all of those things. Surely he would have remembered how their teacher always stressed honesty, responsibility, trust, and respect. Though, he could have been more focused on learning how to count to 100, which took Hinata six and a half months.

"It's the right answer," she said softly.

Sasuke produced a half-smile, his right side of his mouth curving upwards. He looked… amused? By what, her? Hyuuga Hinata was shy and quiet, but never amusing. "Amusing" better suited girls like Haruno Sakura.

He smirked, "'It's the _right answer_?' What, is life some sort of math problem to you?"

Hinata blushed and shook her head, "I hate numbers."

"Why?" he demanded.

Suddenly, her super skinny jeans felt so tight that they were suffocating her… except her lungs were located on the upper half of her body. Oh well, she decided that she might as well tell him before she started hyperventilating.

"Because… my father likes numbers," she confessed quietly.

Hinata had never confided in anybody about her hatred of numbers. She realized that when she said it out loud for the first time, her reason sounded idiotic. She hoped that Sasuke wouldn't mock her. She already gathered enough attention today due to the makeover Hanabi had given her.

"You hate your dad," Sasuke stated.

She nodded. As much as she wished it wasn't true, Hinata resented Hiashi for abandoning Hanabi and her.

"Then we have something in common," he muttered, more to himself than to her.

As she contemplated what he meant, she was taken by surprise as Sasuke grabbed her wrist. He dug out a small pen from his pocket and wrote on her arm. Without another word exchanged between them, he left.

Hinata looked at the perfect manuscript letters on her arm: _Hate me? 381-3759_


End file.
